Some are empire builders. Others are hired guns. But if they truly have world-class oomph, they're on Fortune's subjective - yet really quite accurate - list of the most
powerful businesspeople in the world.

19 of 25

19. Steve Schwarzman

CEO, Blackstone

His firm has nearly $100 billion in assets under management - private equity, hedge funds, real estate. And thanks to a spate of mega-buyouts, including February's $39 billion
purchase of EOP and October's $26 billion acquisition of Hilton Hotels, Schwarzman - the "New King of Wall Street," as we called him in February - embodies the private equity
boom. He could also embody its slowdown: The firm missed its earnings in the third quarter, and its shares have been falling for months. --Katie Benner